It's time: Start paying for news!

Pic/iStock

Print media has been in trouble for a while now, and even news channels - while relatively better off - have been dealing with dwindling viewership. All the while, digital media was touted as the saviour of the Fourth Estate.

Without the shackles of high overhead costs, excessive dependence on advertising revenue, and the strict censorship normally experienced by traditional media, the alternative digital news media has been viewed as an answer sent from above. Social media platforms have become a big part of the news media, with Indians now preferring to consume news via their smartphones, reveals the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2025. YouTube is the top preference (55 per cent) for Indians who track news on their handheld devices, states the report. It is closely followed by WhatsApp at 46 per cent, Instagram (37 per cent), and Facebook (36 per cent).

The report also shows that Indians have always trusted traditional media - evidenced by the numbers, the report found that 43 per cent of respondents trust the news, up from 38 per cent back in 2021. So why is the alternative media here still struggling to get the kind of eyeballs and sponsorship that similar channels in the US got?

55 per cent
of Indians use YouTube to access news on smartphones
'Reuters Institute

‘We were a month away from shutting shop'

Samar Halarnkar, founder of Article14, shares had to share an appeal for subscriptions on Instagram to keep the platform afloat

Founder of Aricle14 Samar Halarnkar making his appeal early this week. PIC/@article14live

Samar Halarnkar, the founder of Article14 which reports on rule of law, grabbed online attention when he put out a video on Instagram (@article14live) with a subscription appeal on Monday. In the clip, Halarnkar says, "We are shutting down. I never imagined saying this but Article14 is closer to that point than ever. For years we have told difficult stories that needed time, courage and trust… But today we are at a breaking point. Traffic is disappearing to AI, social media algorithms are working against independent news. Pressure to fall in line is more intense than ever, and support of our team means people read our work but do not always subscribe."

Halarnkar tells us just how difficult it was for him to put out the video: "I had recorded that [video] about two months ago, when things were looking grim. But somehow we continued. Unless things got really bad, I didn't want to put it out."

So what finally convinced him to release it? "We were a month away from shutting down. There was just no money for anything. We had cut everything to the bone," he adds.

Most of the team members are already not taking any salary, informs Halarnkar.

We ask Halarnkar if the problem is that Indians do not want to pay for news anymore. "It's not a question of the [subscription] model not working. It was our marketing that wasn't working," he says, "In any case, I don't think subscriptions are enough. They might be a good way to bolster your bottom line, but you have to create other avenues of revenue."

The organisation though has always tried to find revenue in other work to keep the not-for-profit company afloat. "We always say, we'll write copy and make public relations brochures for firms. But we spend so much time simply running this very tiny platform, so how will we actually branch out?" he says, sharing the five-member team's dilemma.

The video has helped, though. "There has been an uptick in subscriptions, and we have some cushion now for the next few months," says a more hopeful Halarnkar. With offers of collaboration and support from others, he can now think of how to "not just survive, but thrive with renewed vigour".

If you want to support them head to their website, article-14.com.

‘I will never regret leaving mainstream media'

Sohit Mishra went from TV news to reporting on his own YouTube channel, armed with nothing but a phone

Sohit Mishra is one of the few journalists Mumbai who has moved away from legacy media and entered alternative digital media. FILE PIC

When Sohit Mishra, a former Mumbai Bureau Chief for a mainstream news channel, quit on principle in 2023, the news had sent ripples across Mumbai's media landscape. Today, his YouTube channel (@JournalistSohitMishra) has At six
lakh subscribers.

While running the channel by himself, Mishra says he has no regrets, "When I joined TV news, it was already sputtering to its end. We had begun to shoot our videos on mobile phones. Today, I still shoot them but I can say what I want. I can cover news that I maybe wouldn't have been able to cover in mainstream news. And despite what you might think, it gives me more time to work on my stories," he adds.

Mishra's last video was on the Cockroach Janata Party and clocked around 1.5 lakh views. "I didn't rush that story. I took time and made sure I had covered all angles," he says. This comes at a cost, but he doesn't mind paying it. "Other than the one video editor, it's all me," he adds.

He is still figuring out revenue. "People want to donate money but they're afraid to be named as sponsors. They are scared of being associated with journalists who speak truth to power. I understand, but at the same time, it's unethical for me to take money just like that," he says.

‘Good work isn't enough anymore'

While legacy media might shy away from asking readers and viewers for help, Newslaundry has actively reminded its audience that they must "pay to keep news independent"

Abhinandan Sekhri of Newslaundry is one of the few that have been able to crack the alternative digital space. PIC/Newslaundry.com

Newslaundry is now 14 years old. When it had first launched, many were sceptical if it would survive, but hearteningly, the independent news portal has stayed strong.

Recently, founder Abhinandan Sekhri made a subscription appeal, with a R99 per month package. "We are targeting people who may be on their first job or students who cannot afford our bigger subscription plans," Sekhri tells us over the phone from Delhi.

He says that in a democracy like India, we need news media that puts public interest first. "It [digital media] is an opportunity, but also a challenge. More so in India, because the audience is not used to paying for news. When we started Newslaundry in 2012, almost 70 per cent of our subscriber revenue used to come from NRIs. Today, just 20 to 22 per cent comes from NRIs," he adds.

A self-professed optimist, he says, "In the last 14 years, Indians have realised that they have to ‘pay to keep news independent', which is what our tagline is. We did have the early mover advantage, but we still have to keep reminding the audience that we need them to subscribe to keep doing this kind of work. I think one mistake news organisations make is to think that just doing good work is enough."

Sekhri believes that journalism has to keep the audience from waning. "You have to come up with more interesting ways to tell a story. Whether it's formats like podcasts, animation, comic books - there's an opportunity. But the biggest bump in the road in India is regulation," he says. "Newspapers pay zero GST for subscriptions and five per cent for advertisement, while digital is still paying 18 per cent GST for both. There's another 40 per cent that's levied on YouTube content, which means we only get 42 per cent revenue. The regulation is really hurting us," he adds.

The digital and social media model works, says Sekhri. "It's a very robust business model, but the government does not want it to work. Because if it does, media will raise uncomfortable questions. This [regulation by taxation] can't be done in the US and UK. Although Trump is still trying to kill the media. The institutional strength of news organisations is so strong that it's not so easy to muzzle even the mainstream news channels," he adds. "But I also get that Indians might not have the same kind of wealth to subscribe to us even if they want to," he adds.